Hello, I'm glad you decided to check out "After All This Time?" and I greatly appreciate it tremendously. However, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I plan on rewriting this story so the flow of the writing is less confusing. I love what I have for this story, but I'm aware that it could use a lot of tweaks. I'm not changing it completely, put will be changing the writing style, and changing some plot points that aren't turning out the way I want it too. But until then, I hope you still enjoy what I have written here and will still check out the rewritten when I post it. Thank you so much, and hope you stick around for the rest of the story 3

A dream.

It never failed that I would have another dream about him. It was beginning to fade the more awake I was becoming, but its essence remained. My chest had a tightness that gradually trailed up to just below my throat.

This ache.

It didn't quite feel like I was suffocating, but it was consuming my very being with grief. My eyes became glossy trying to retain all of what I could remember.

I was much smaller in stature, the young child from so long ago. He was walking a distance in front of me. His movements were so graceful and elegant. He stops for a moment and turns to me as I caught the gaze of his golden orbs. He reaches his hand out to me, but as I lift my tiny hand to him the distance grew between us. I could no longer reach him. I cry out to him to no avail as he disappears into the darkness.

The dreams I had in the past were always pleasant, but why did this one bother me so?

Was I missing him that much?

Of course.

Terribly in fact.

I sat up from my bed, wiping away the single tear that fell down my warm cheek. I try not to cry much anymore whenever I felt sad, but this tear escaped me so easily. I release a deep sigh to try and nullify the ache in my chest. I place a hand to my chest, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly.

Lady Kaede was sound asleep in her bed mat beside mine. I looked out the window and saw that it was well before dawn, but I couldn't convince myself to go back to sleep even if I wanted to. I got up to my feet and stepped lightly as I approached the bamboo cover door. I walk outside, feeling a chill breeze in the air.

It has been four years since I last saw him; Lord Sesshomaru. The events of the last day I saw him are foggy. No one has been able to give me a proper explanation of what happened at the time. Even today, they keep details from me like it's a secret I shouldn't learn.

As a child, this was frustrating to accept. Now as a grown woman, it was almost insulting, but I've learned to consider the fact that maybe it's not their place to tell me.

But how am I to know?

What happened that drove him away?

Another tear falls down my face.

I never got to say goodbye to him.